It has been confirmed on Friday that planes carrying freed Houthi prisoners arrived in Yemen from Saudi Arabia.
It was announced in a tweet by the Saudi Press Agency that the “process of releasing and transferring 163 Houthi prisoners has ended.”
It said the release was part of Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian initiative to “support peace efforts.”
The statement added, “We appreciate the efforts and role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to coordinate the return of prisoners.”
Meanwhile, following a request from the Arab Coalition, the ICRC said it facilitated the repatriation of 117 detainees.
The spokesperson for the coalition, Turki Al-Maliki, had earlier announced that 163 Houthis imprisoned while fighting against Saudi Arabia would be released.
A “long overdue” two-month truce between Yemen’s warring rivals was announced on April 1 by the UN’s Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, under which all offensive military air, ground, and maritime operations were halted.
Since 2014 when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa, Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability.
The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to restore the government to power.
With millions suffering from hunger, the war has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
